Ellen Wilkinson’s Followers (8)

Ellen Wilkinson

Born

in Manchester, The United Kingdom

October 08, 1891

Died

February 06, 1947

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Ellen Cicely Wilkinson PC (8 October 1891 – 6 February 1947) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Minister of Education from July 1945 until her death. As the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jarrow, she became a national figure when, in 1936, she figured prominently in the Jarrow March of the town's unemployed to London, to petition for the right to work. Although unsuccessful at the time, the march provided an iconic image for the 1930s, and helped to form post-Second World War attitudes to unemployment and social justice.

Wilkinson was born into a poor though ambitious Manchester family, and embraced socialism at an early age. After graduating from the University of Manchester she worked for a women's suffrage organisation and Ellen Cicely Wilkinson PC (8 October 1891 – 6 February 1947) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Minister of Education from July 1945 until her death. As the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jarrow, she became a national figure when, in 1936, she figured prominently in the Jarrow March of the town's unemployed to London, to petition for the right to work. Although unsuccessful at the time, the march provided an iconic image for the 1930s, and helped to form post-Second World War attitudes to unemployment and social justice.

Wilkinson was born into a poor though ambitious Manchester family, and embraced socialism at an early age. After graduating from the University of Manchester she worked for a women's suffrage organisation and later as a trade union officer. Inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917, Wilkinson joined the British Communist Party, and preached revolutionary socialism while seeking constitutional routes to political power through the Labour Party. She was elected Labour MP for Middlesbrough East in 1924, and supported the 1926 General Strike. In the 1929–31 Labour government she served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the junior Health Minister. Following her defeat at Middlesbrough in 1931, Wilkinson became a prolific journalist and writer before returning to parliament as Jarrow's MP in 1935. She was a strong advocate for the Republican faction in the Spanish Civil War, and made several visits to the battle zones.

During the Second World War Wilkinson served in Churchill's wartime coalition as a junior minister, mainly at the Ministry of Home Security where she worked under Herbert Morrison. She supported Morrison's attempts to replace Clement Attlee as the Labour Party's leader; nevertheless, when he formed his postwar government Attlee appointed Wilkinson as Minister of Education. By this time her health was poor, the legacy of years of overwork. She saw her main task in office as the implementation of the wartime coalition's 1944 Education Act, rather than the more radical introduction of comprehensive schools favoured by many in the Labour Party. Much of her energy was applied to organising the raising of the school leaving age from 14 to 15. In the exceptionally cold English winter of 1946–47, she succumbed to a bronchial disease, and died after an overdose of medication which the coroner at her inquest declared was accidental.

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Ellen Wilkinson’s books

Average rating: 3.54 · 806 ratings · 163 reviews · 8 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Division Bell Mystery by Ellen Wilkinson, Rachel Reeves (Preface), Martin Edwards (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 3.50 avg rating — 711 ratings — published 1932 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Clash 3.69 avg rating — 67 ratings — published 1929 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Town That Was Murdered: The Life Story of Jarrow 4.24 avg rating — 21 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Why Fascism? by Ellen Wilkinson, Edward Conze really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Programme for Victory by Harold J. Laski, Harold Nicolson, Herbert Read 3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2014 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Workers' History of the Great Strike by Raymond W. Postgate, Ellen Wilkinson, J.F. Horrabin really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Short Nonfiction Collection Vol. 032 by Friedrich Schlegel (Contributor), Albert Francis Zahm (Contributor), Abraham Lincoln (Contributor) liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Among the Danes by F.M. Butlin, Ellen Wilkinson (Illustrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Ellen Wilkinson (?)

“sad commentary on the decay of working class forthrightness that we now call our papers the Tribune, the Herald, the Worker, instead of a grand challenging title like “The Despots’ Plague”!”
― Ellen Wilkinson, The Town that Was Murdered

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“In these days of fascism, when the workers’ unions have been smashed, and all effective means of protest and redress removed, the story of these earlier struggles cannot be dismissed as “All so long ago. Things are better now.” Wherever workers are denied their own bulwarks against tyranny, the same kind of oppression recurs; the same kind of accusation are levied by employers against the leadership created from the ranks.”
― Ellen Wilkinson, The Town that Was Murdered

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“A society in which the decisive decisions are invariably taken by one group, and in which those decisions are reached only by considerations of their own welfare; is not a just society.”
― Ellen Wilkinson, The Town that Was Murdered

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Polls

February side read - thriller/political intrigue

The Third Man by Graham Greene

9 votes, 26.5%

Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout

8 votes, 23.5%

Call for the Dead by John le Carré

8 votes, 23.5%

The Division Bell Mystery by Ellen Wilkinson

6 votes, 17.6%

Below the Clock by J.V. Turner

3 votes, 8.8%

34 total votes

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Ellen Wilkinson’s Followers (8)

Ellen Wilkinson

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